The titular role is performed by an actor and dancer, Aphiwe Dike and Tumelo Lekana respectively. Lekana is fleet footed and swift, brimming with a youthful energy, while Dike is more weighted and tortured. Though he does not perform as a dancer, Dike’s physicality is notable as he manhandles Ophelia and his mother Gertrude with adolescent rage. He performs the highlights of Shakespeare’s text throughout the snappy hour-long runtime, but the effect only occasionally lands and frequently stalls the momentum and dramatic tension that Masilo and composer Thuthuka Sibisi build. The same can be said for an overly long but elegantly performed solo from Thando Mgobhozi’s Claudius.

A true standout of the night is the women in the piece. Llewellyn Mnguni captures the regal haughtiness of Gertrude, their limby qualities used to the maximum potential. Her fickle nature is not sugarcoated as she slides into the arms of her new husband, but her connection to the tragic Ophelia is emphasised to powerful effect. The pair trudge across the stage, pulling their guts out with delicate fingers, they show each other an affection rarely afforded in the original text. Lehlohonolo Madise is an incredibly strong Ophelia—perhaps the most interesting character in Shakespeare’s tragedy. Madise captures the weight of her duty-bound existence and the catastrophic fall out of her personal life with wide eyes and a shivering body. She’s a magnetic presence, a real anchor to the work.